Public Consultations: Language Proficiency

Immigration Minister Dept: “There’s no shortage of people who want to come to Canada, and we should frankly do all we can to attract the best and brightest,” Mr. Kenney said. “There are certain traits which seem to be more heavily correlated with higher income and better employment, such as younger immigrants and higher levels of language proficiency.”, according to Globe And Mail. The current setup tends to favour applicants with advanced degrees. Tradespeople do less well because their qualifications aren’t highly rewarded and they’re judged on language skills that may not be required in their field. Mr. Kenney hopes to address those issues and citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney will immediately begin one month of public consultations on changes to the points system, which is used to assess skilled worker applications from overseas. At the moment, the system is based on a 100-point scale, and 67 points are required to be accepted. About a quarter of the assessment is based on English and French proficiency, a quarter on education, 20 per cent on years of work experience and 10 per cent each on age, adaptability and having arranged employment in Canada. As reported in the news.
@t globe and mail, citizenship and immigration